Martyrs Adrian and Natalia

Pouring the Slab

Aug 26/ Sep 8 2009 14th
Tuesday after Pentecost

Thou didst lay to heart the words of thy
godly-minded spouse,/ O Adrian martyr of Christ./ Eagerly didst thou run to the
tortures, and with thy wife receive a crown.(Kontakion of Ss Adrian and Natalie,
Tone 4)

Many years to our many Natasha’s today! This is the
day we remember Martyrs Adrian and Natalia. First a few comments, then their
story.

Greetings to our Natashas, hither and yon: Natalia
“the black” (Natalia Hawthorne, with dark hair), Natalia the Red
(Natalia Quillen), Natalia the short (boy am I in trouble for this, I guess I
will see it she reads my stuff! – Natalia Holland), Natalia the
“Mishka” (Natalia Dudar), Natalia Hagler, Natalia Farris, and our
long distance and former parishioners, Natalia the “white (Natalia
Arzhantseva, from Belo Rus) and Natalia “the blonde”, and our
former parishioner, our lone Adrian (Boariu). I probably missed a few –
we have a lot of Natalias!

I am not feeling extremely literary today, so
today’s thoughts will be in simple bullets.

·
We poured the concrete slab today. I saw it and Christina took pictures. We
will put up the walls next week!

View towards the Hall

Our builder, Tim Bonner, assures Fr Seraphim that
…

They are doing their “level best” on this
project!

·
Our Thursday night molebens will be on the slab from now on, almost like
being in the church. Remember, this Thursday we will have Vigil for the
beheading of St John in the current facility, but starting next week,
“Moleben on the slab” replaces “Moleben before the
cross”.

·Services this week – Wed Vespers at 7,
ThursdayLiturgy at 9 am, and in a departure from our usual
schedule, Thursday vigil at 7 PM for the Beheading of the
Forerunner.

·
No services are scheduled for Friday Morning. I would like to serve liturgy
for St John, if I can find a reader. Anybody? We can have Russian, Greek of
Serbian melodies! I am sure you all know whom I am referring to.

The account of the martyrdom of Adrian and Natalia has
much to teach us, if we listen.

They were a very young couple, with most of their
“life’ ahead of them, but a life that is not lived according to
the truth is death and a death because of the truth is life. They chose
truth, at great cost. Their courage did not come of themselves, but by the
grace of God, which was abundantly active in them because of their zeal. If
they were worldly and prone to threats or flattery, grace would not have
protected them. God’s grace is not a static thing that helps us –
it either lives within us because of our choices, or it is far from us. All
this happens invisibly to our eyes, but very visibly to those with spiritual
sight.

We consider Natalia to be a martyr even though she was not
actually killed. Since “martyr” means witness, I think her support
of her husband qualifies, don’t you? We also count St Sophia, mother of
Faith, Hope and Love to be a martyr, and like Natalia, she died shortly after
the martyrdom of her loved ones.

We certainly think of the exploits of the martyrs when we
read from Wisdom during the Vesper service:

But the souls of the just are in the hand of
God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. (2) In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and
their departure was taken for misery: (3) And their going away from us, for utter
destruction: but they are in peace. (Wisdom 3:1-3)

The world does not understand the peace that is possible
by loving God. We profess that the martyrs are at peace even during their
martyrdom – but this is not something we can understand. Only the very
holy can understand this peace. We can only stand in awe of their exploits and
berate ourselves because our lackluster way of living does not measure up in
any way to their love for God.

The world not only does not understand the peace of God,
but is actually would consider the exploits of Natalia or St Sophia to be signs
of mental illness or great evil. St Natalia showed true love for her young
husband by assisting him to obtain his martyrdom. Would we do the same? Or
would we shrink back in horror at the blood spectacle and not see the grace of
God giving peace?

The Martyr Adrian converted because of witnessing the way
other Christians faced death with dignity and without fear. He saw something in
them.

Reading the lives of the Saints should be similar to
reading the Scriptures. I have told you many times – it is ALWAYS
about us. We do not read for amusement or knowledge – we read to be
changed. In reading this story, I always noetically put myself in the
place of the Christian martyrs who preceded Adrian, and Adrian and Natalia. I
wonder would I have been worthy of such a calling.

There is a longer account of their martyrdom somewhere
– I have read it many times, but cannot find it at this moment. It is
much more descriptive and moving than the account below. I think it was in
Orthodox Life some years ago.

The Martyrs Adrian and
Nataliawere married in their youth for
one year prior to their martyrdom. They lived in Bithynian Nicomedia during the
time of the emperor Maximian (305-311). Having started his persecution, the
emperor promised a reward to whomever would inform on Christians to bring them
to trial.

There began the denunciations,
and through one of these there were seized 23 Christians, hiding in a cave near
Nicomedia. They were tortured, urged to worship idols, and then taken to the
judgment palace, in order to record their names and responses.

Adrian, the head of the judgment
palace, looking on as they brought in the people suffering with such courage
for their faith, and how firmly and fearlessly they confessed Christ, asked:
"What rewards do ye expect from your God for suffering?" The martyrs replied:
"Such rewards, as we are not able to describe, nor thy mind comprehend".
Inspired, Saint Adrian told the scribes: "Write me down also, that I be a
Christian and with joy I do die for Christ God".

The scribes reported about this
to the emperor, who summoned Saint Adrian and asked: "Really, hast thou gone
mad, that thou dost want to die? Come, cross out thine name from the lists and
offer sacrifice to the gods, asking their forgiveness".

Saint Adrian answered: "I am not
mad, but the rather have been converted to health of mind". Maximian then
ordered Adrian to be thrown into prison.

His wife, Saint Natalia, knowing
that her husband was suffering for Christ, rejoiced, since she herself was
secretly a Christian. She hastened to the prison and encouraged her husband
saying: "Blest be thou, mine lord, in that thou hast believed on Christ,
wherein thou hast obtained a great treasure. Regret not anything of earth,
neither beauty, nor youth (Adrian was then 28 years of age), nor riches.
Everything worldly -- is dust and ashes. Only faith and good deeds be pleasing
to God".

On the pledge of the other
martyrs, they released Saint Adrian from prison to relate to his wife about the
day of execution. Saint Natalia at first thought, that he had renounced Christ
and thus had been set free, and she did not want to let him into the house. The
saint persuaded his wife, that he had not fled martyrdom, but rather had come
to give her the news of the day of his execution.

They tortured Saint Adrian
cruelly. The emperor advised the saint to have pity on himself and call on the
gods, but the martyr answered: "Let thine gods say, what blessings they promise
me, and then I shalt worship them, but if they cannot speak thus, then why
should I worship them?"

Saint Natalia did not cease to
encourage her husband. She asked him also to convey for her a foremost prayer
to God, that they would not compel her into a marriage with a pagan after his
death. The executioner ordered the hands and the legs of the saints to be
broken on the anvil. Saint Natalia, fearing that her husband would hesitate in
seeing the sufferings of the other martyrs, besought the executioner to begin
the execution with him and let her herself put his hands and legs on the
anvil.